IDDI MUHAYU-DEEN’S FOLDER
Just
like any other human, President Mahama has made a number of mistakes in his
life; but I dare say that the biggest of all, would be for him to capitulate to
this rather superfluous pressure from his party folks to invoke Article 72 on
the muntie 3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Article essentially talks about
the President of the Republic granting amnesty to convicted persons by
exercising his “Prerogative of Mercy” based on justifiable reasons and upon the
advice of the Council of State. Before proceeding, I wish to make the point
that, no one should allow himself to be deceived into thinking that Ghanaians
are generally unhappy with the court judgement and are thus, calling on the President
to reverse same. Indeed, this whole so called ‘pressure thing’ or petition is a
complete FAÇADE and a creation of the NDC to mislead us and prepare the grounds
for the President to free the guys under the pretext of being a listening President.
Do they think that Ghanaians are gullible and can’t read between the lines?
What a smart move gone bud!
Upon
realizing that this approach wasn’t working for them, they decided to impress
upon a section of Ga Chiefs to join the bandwagon in order to give same some
gravitas. Interestingly, I heard some other Ga Chiefs including Nii Okaija III,
who granted interview to citi eyewitness news on Monday, reminding Ghanaians
that the chiefs that organized the press conference under the umbrella of Ga
traditional council, were the same people that staged a palace coup to
illegally unseat the then Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Tewiah under the watch of this
NDC government. I hope you now get the connection and why they are doing what
they are doing today. Granted that this was a genuine call, are the chiefs
telling us that all convicted criminals on Ga soil should be set free in honour
of the upcoming Homowo Festival as they were suggesting? Hmm our chieftaincy
institution has a lot to learn indeed.
On
the propriety or otherwise of Article 72 under the circumstances, I am not a lawyer
yet but I doubt that the internment of the framers of our Constitution is to
vest in the President, the power to REVIEW the decision of the Court by
reposing in him, an appellate jurisdiction. Indeed, Article 125 (3) states
clearly that “The Judicial Power of Ghana shall be vested in the Judiciary of
Ghana, accordingly, neither the President nor Parliament nor any organization
or agency of the President or Parliament shall have or be given judicial
power”. Again, Section 34 (d) of the Prisons Act, clearly FORBIDS the grant of pardon
to prisoners who were convicted of contempt of court. One does not need to be
legally savvy to understand these explicit provisions in our jurisprudence. In
any case, per Article 296, the invocation of Article 72 (exercise of
discretionary power) must be premised on fairness, good faith, sound reasoning
rather than on capricious grounds driven by political masturbation. President
Mahama can save this country from an imminent constitutional absurdity
involving “power play” between the two arms of government (Executive and
Judiciary) if his intervention is challenged at the Supreme Court should he do
the unthinkable.
My
greatest disappointment is with the Minsters of State and top government
officials, who have abandoned their work to join the chorus and mount pressure
on their boss, President Mahama to free the convicted trio? How ignominious
could that be! The most annoying aspect of this mishap is the decision of the Gender
and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur to also sign on that petition
calling for IMPUNITY in this country. I thought Oye Lithur, prior to becoming a
Minister, claimed to be an award winning advocate for the rights of women and
children. I thought this was what influenced her decision to rebuke and
objurgate Kennedy Agyapong when he chauvinistically attacked the EC Chair,
Madam Charlotte Osei. What has changed now Oye Lithur? The last time I checked,
the Chief Justice, Georgina Wood was also a woman. I don’t know if her gender
has changed now. Oye Lithur, those muntie gangs that you are calling for their
release, threatened to RAPE the Chief Justice and then KILL her together with
her colleagues on the bench.
To
me, it is ABSOLUTELY CONSCIONABLE for any well-meaning Ghanaian to call on the
President to grant REPRIEVE to the 3 muntie gangs, who were in fact, CONVICTED
of a CRIMINAL OFFENSE based on their own ADMISSION of GUILT. Mind you, these
guys were taken through DUE PROCESS in line with the principle of natural
justice before they were convicted and incarcerated. Having found them guilty,
the judges could have given them 3 years per the provisions in the 1992 Constitution
but they decided to pardon them by giving the trio ONLY 4 months; yet, some NDC
folks still say the sentence was too harsh. How incredulous! Remember, this is
a country where someone was recently jailed 10 years by this same judges for
threatening to kill President Mahama.
But
we are essentially being told now by the followers of President Mahama that the
lives of our judges don’t matter. People could threaten them with death and
rape and still go unpunished. Mind you, these were the same judges that gave VICTORY
to President Mahama and the NDC in the famous 2012 election petition. Can you
imagine what would have happened in this country if supporters of the
petitioners (NPP) had rejected the Supreme Court verdict and proceeded to
organize night vigils and the singing of needless petitions as we see today? Would
this country be governable for President Mahama if that had happened?
Obviously, Ghana would forever be grateful to Nana Akuffo Addo for calming his
supporters when it mattered most. Interestingly, this is the same man that is
always branded as a violent man by the NDC. How paradoxical! Apostles of rule
of law indeed.
Finally,
Mr. President, you have the opportunity to uphold the RULE OF LAW by respecting
the judgement of the nation’s apex court or to disrespect the court by seeking
to reserve their decision as demanded by your party foot soldiers. In doing so,
you must take into account, your lawyer’s (Tony Lithur) advice, who reminds you
of the stigma that is haunting your political tradition involving the GRUESOME
MURDER of three High Court Judges in the past. You either respect the Judiciary
by allowing the status quo to remain or make NONSENSE of Article 125 by
UNDERMINING the independence of the nation’s Judiciary. You should bear in mind
that if you go for the latter, then you are setting a very DANGEROUS PRECEDENCE
in this country… where convicted criminals would be set free once their party
is in government. I hope this is not the kind of LEGACY you want to bequeath to
the next generation. We are watching you Mr. President and please do remember that
posterity shall forever judge us all.
Assalamu
alaikum
This
piece was compiled by a concerned Ghanaian democrat in the business of
OCCUPYING HEARTS and MINDS for the love of God and country.
IDDI
MUHAYU-DEEN
Youth
Activist/Social Commentator
Former
NUGS Secretary
(0245335197)
Please,
it is shareable…..
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